E-Bulletin For December 2016

Dec 02: Muhammad Usman, correspondent of Waqt TV channel and Jehan-e-Pakistan newspaper in Dera Ismail Khan, was detained for hours after military officials took him away from middle of road copying data from his laptop computer and external hard. They also discovered “hidden folders” in his laptop.

Dec 02: The High Court of Justice in London ordered the UK broadcaster of ARY News … to pay £185,000 in libel damages to Mir Shakilur Rehman, the Editor-in-Chief of Jang/Geo Group, in relation to seriously defamatory allegations broadcast in 24 programmes which the judge said simply had no foundation.

Dec 10: Taliban distribute pamphlet in Rustam bazaar in Wana, headquarter of South Waziristan, warning tribal journalist of dire consequences accusing them of partisan reporting sending a chilling wave among these journalists. Freedom Network obtained the copy of the pamphlet in Pushto language.

Dec 21: At a legal hearing in London on Wednesday, Judge Sir David Eady ruled that ARY News channel broadcast the summary on Dec 23 at 6pm, 10pm and 3am in the first five minutes of each hour.

Dec 27: Journalist community demands the government should share draft ‘Journalists Protection and Welfare Bill” before its enactment. http://www.dawn.com/news/1304894

Dec 28: Attorney General of Pakistan has written to the interior ministry and the information technology division suggesting criminal action against offenders that may entail two to five years prison term. http://www.dawn.com/news/1305117

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FN Youtube Channel

Freedom Network releases this short documentary to highlight impunity for crimes in Pakistan where just three cases of murdered journalists have been resolved out of over 100 journalists killed in line of duty since January 2002. This documentary is released on November 2 to commemorate International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists and dedicated to those journalists killed in line of duty all over the world